Question: How do I take care of a new lame? How can I repair a lame with a few dead spots?
When you get a new lame, or you have one that is already working well, you want to make sure that you keep it in good repair. When beginning to care for your lame, you should remember that the lame is a metallic jacket made up of both fabric at metallic threads. The lame is in good working order when the metallic threads are intact and able to conduct electricity with little resistance.
Q: Some people have referred to "the point in line fallacy," which is that any maintained extension constitutes point in line for right of way purposes. What happens to right of way if you hold an extension at the end of an attack?
The attack is finished (with no hit) and the arm is left extended as a point in line. Does the opponent get the right to riposte, or does the newly established line keep priority?
Bill Oliver, member of the FOC, sometimes contributes to Fencing.Net by answering some questions that get asked in the Discussion Forum. The question of how footwork and bladework both impact the determination of right of way in foil is addressed here.
Fencing bouts take place on a long, narrow strip about fourteen meters long and two meters wide. Fencers take position at the "on guard" lines, two meters equidistant from the precise center of the strip.
If the "real thing" is a duel with sharps, then aside from the mortal danger and related psychological factors, the primary technical difference is that the duelist can win with only a single good touch, whereas the athlete has to hit his opponent as many as 15 times and so requires more technical and tactical depth. Many inferior duelists have won their combats through sheer dumb luck. This is far less likely in the sport. On the other hand, the sport fencer takes many defensive risks that would be unthinkable in a duel, since he has up to 15 "lives" to work with. Some purists equate "real" fencing with classical fencing, ie. the prevalent styles of the traditional French and Italian schools of fencing that predominated before electric fencing was popularized. By comparison, modern fencing is more mobile and athletic, while classical fencers were known for their more sophisticated phrasing and bladework.
